1.2 - Memory & Storage Flashcards

1
Q

What are the two types of primary storage?

A
  • Random Access Memory (RAM)
  • Read Only Memory (ROM)
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2
Q

What does Random Access Memory (RAM) do?

A

Holds open programs and data until the CPU is turned off (it is volatile)

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3
Q

Is RAM volatile or non-volatile?

A

Volatile

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4
Q

What does Read Only Memory (ROM) do?

A

Contains the bootstrap loader / Bios / loads the OS from storage into RAM

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5
Q

Is ROM volatile or non-volatile?

A

Non-volatile

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6
Q

What is secondary storage?

A

Permanent, non-volatile, long term storage for programs and data

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7
Q

What is virtual memory?

A

When RAM is full, part of the secondary storage may be used like RAM, storing open programs

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8
Q

What are the three types of secondary storage?

A
  • Magnetic
  • Optical
  • Solid state
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9
Q

How does magnetic storage work?

A

A read/write head moves nanometres above the disk platter and uses the magnetic field of the platter to read or edit data

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10
Q

What is an example of a magnetic storage device?

A

Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

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11
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of magnetic storage?

A

Advantages:
- Large capacity
- Reliable
- Durable
- Portable
- Faster access speed than optical storage

Disadvantages:
- Slower access speed than solid state

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12
Q

How does optical storage work?

A

Uses a laser to project beams of light onto a spinning disc

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13
Q

What are examples of optical storage devices?

A

CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray

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14
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of optical storage?

A

Advantages:
- Portable
- Cheap

Disadvantages:
- Not durable
- Low capacity per disc
- Slowest access speed

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15
Q

How does solid state storage work?

A

Electronic circuitry

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16
Q

What is are examples of solid state storage device?

A

Solid State Drives (SSD), USB flash drives and memory cards

17
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of solid state storage?

A

Advantages:
- Fastest access speed
- Durable
- Portable
- High capacity

Disadvantage
- Most expensive per MB

18
Q

What is a character set?

A

A table that assigns each character a unique binary value

19
Q

How many bits does ASCII have to represent a character?

A

8 bits per character

20
Q

How many characters does ASCII have room to represent?

21
Q

What can Unicode do?

A

Represent thousands of characters

22
Q

What is image resolution?

A

Number of pixels

23
Q

What is colour depth?

A

Number of bits per pixel used to represent colours

24
Q

What are examples of metadata?

A

Height, width, colour depth, file type, geolocation, camera model, date taken, etc.

25
What is sample rate?
Number of samples per second (Hz) The number of times per second that sound is captured
26
What is bit depth?
Number of bits used to represent a sample
27
What is compression and why is it used?
Reducing file size to take up less storage space and have shorter transmission times and use less bandwidth
28
What does lossy compression do?
Deletes parts of the file permanently
29
What can lossy compression be used for?
Images and audio
30
What does lossless compression do?
Represents the file in a more efficient way Reduces the size of the file but no data is lost, the file is restored to the original when opened.
31
What can lossless compression be used for?
Text documents and program files